One of my favourite runs is a traffic free, flat run in Elwood, Victoria.

Elwood is situated between St Kilda and Brighton and a hidden gem, in my opinion. There is a car park just south of Point Ormond and that is where this run starts from. The run I describe here is 10km there and back but you can run any distance along the beach path. The beauty of this run is that there’s no traffic other than other runners and the occasional stroller.

Starting from the car park at Point Ormond run south, keeping the beach on your right hand side. After about 5 minutes you’ll pass Sails on the Bay and Elwood Sailing Club (watch out for the little nippers in dinghies). Just as a quick note Sails on the Bay does some fantastic food and dinner here is wonderful. Keep running and you’ll see some majestic houses on the left. Three km from starting you’ll hit Middle Brighton Baths; there’s a great outdoor ‘pool’ here (the sea), there’s also a good café and restaurant. Keep going for another km along the beautiful wide beach just south of Middle Brighton; this is very popular with kite boarders. When you reach the toilets at the end of the beach you could turn round and that makes a good 8km run. However you can keep going along the bike path and you’ll pass the brightly coloured beach huts of Brighton. At the 5km mark turn around and head back.

If you are feeling particularly energetic at the end of the run Point Ormond is ideal for some hill sprints. Run as quick as you can up the hill to the top and recovery run down giving yourself a good minute break. Do 3 to 5 times. Once done take in the wonderful views of Melbourne and Port Philip from the top of Point Ormond.

This is a beautiful run with no traffic, no roads and lots to look at. It also helps that I am a massive Grand Prix fan and it reminds me of it every time I run there.

Stunning view of the city from Albert Park lake

Albert Park actually hosts quite a few fun runs so keep an eye out for them. There’s one for MS on the 3rd June 2012 and Start to Finish host Emma and Tom’s Christmas Run in December each year. It’s perfect for a 5km or 10km run depending on how you are feeling. It’s as flat as a pancake so also really good for interval training.

Depending on where you live or are parked you can start anywhere. There is lots of parking at MSAC (Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre) on Aughtie Drive but there is meter parking all around the park. Look out for the birds when you are running, these include the majestic black Canadian Geese, probably my favourite bird.

In the summer I would recommend avoiding dawn and dusk due to the mossies and flys; there are tons of them and I’ve come back from a run covered in bites and fully fed from all the flies and gnats I’ve swallowed.

A link to the run is below. For a 5km run do one circuit and for 10k do two!

Andrea is a bit of a newbie to running. However Andrea does enjoy yoga, bike riding, keeping fit and is a big fan of eating healthily. Andrea also has a personal trainer to help her build her strength; she tends to focus on resistance and weight training. This will be Andrea’s first Run Melbourne 10km having run her first 4km run in February this year. Last year she took the 5km Run Melbourne race on but did walk quite a lot of it. This year she’s serious about it!

Andrea is keen to run this year’s race in under 70 minutes. Well really she is keen to run the whole thing so a time is a bonus.

Her current training plan focuses on getting out there and running. For Andrea the real barrier to running is time, motivation and self talk. Andrea plans to do three short twenty minute runs a week and combine that with yoga and cycling to and from work.

We’ll keep track of how Andrea is doing up to race day.

Top tip: Don’t talk yourself out of training; get out there and be positive.

This week we are talking to Pete, a keen triathlete. Pete is a pretty good swimmer and as such has developed his running so that he can compete in triathlons. Next year he is aiming to complete Ironman Melbourne. So we think Pete’s pretty good despite his protests.

Pete (on the right) ran this year’s Run 4 the kids in an excellent time of 61 minutes. Over the last year he has improved his average pace by over 30 seconds per km. Pete puts this down to, losing weight, changing his training slightly, incorporating some interval training and also having a coach to help him focus on his goals and targets on a wek to week basis.

The target this year for Pete is to beat his PB of 1hr 34min and go as close to 1hr 30min as possible. But the real goal is the Melbourne marathon in October and the Iron Man race next March.

Pete’s training plan up to the race consists of 3-4 runs per week (as well as swimming and riding). An average week consists of an interval session (10-12km), 1 or 2 easy runs (7-10km) and a long run currently around 100 minutes (17-20+km)

Top tip: Don’t get ahead of yourself; build up slowly to avoid injuries.

Run Melbourne is a fantastic run that is taking place on Sunday July 15th through the streets of Australia’s food capital….. Melbourne.

There is a 5km, 10km and half marathon course; last year I completed the half marathon and it was a great event, well organised, plenty of water and a good route. It was still hard work though!

I’ll be doing this year’s half marathon again and for the next few weeks we’ll profile someone different whether they be an experienced runner, a first timer, after a PB or simply want to get round. We’ll keep track of their training and see how they actually did when the race is done!

So this week it’s Julie, also known as Chief Bunny!

Julie, runs lots but wants to get quicker

I haven’t run a half marathon for a while so this is my journey back into it. I’m really after doing a 1hr 50 time so I need to start revving up my training. At the moment I focus on 4 or 5 runs a week and some of those will incorporate interval training.

Three months out from the race I’ve started to get a bit more serious about my training; I have a plan which incorporates shorter runs during the week and longer runs on the weekend. I also make sure I keep the interval training going but I’m more planned about it. In addition I try and get some shorter races in so I have the Mother Day Classic planned for May 13th and a 10km race around Albert Park in June. I find it helps you pace yourself and get used to race conditions again (I am always quite nervous before a race and my experience is that your stomach can play havoc with you).

Following on from Run Melbourne I’ll be running the Melbourne marathon in October so then the really tough work begins!

Top tip: if you are using gels or sports drink incorporate in your training; don’t use what’s provided on the day. Your stomach won’t thank you for it!